Elder Law – Medi-Cal Planning

Elder law focuses on helping seniors prepare for and cope with the changes that come with growing older. It often involves helping seniors and their families find ways to pay for long-term care without losing most if not all of their assets. When you consider that the majority of seniors will find themselves in a nursing home at some point in their lives, Medicare will not pay for long-term nursing home care.

Long-term care insurance is one way to protect assets against the high cost of long-term medical care, but it is expensive, often carries high co-pays, and is difficult to qualify for when there are pre-existing medical conditions. Fortunately, there are other options available to protect your assets in advance against the cost of long-term care. We can explain these options to you and create a plan to ensure you receive the care you need without losing the assets you have worked a lifetime to achieve.

Medi-Cal is a joint federal-state program that has become a significant provider of funds for long-term care in the state of California. Before applying for assistance from Medi-Cal, it is a good idea to speak with an elder law attorney. Many people make mistakes in filling out the application, or do things such as giving away assets in the hopes of becoming eligible for Medi-Cal. While gifting is possible, it has to be done correctly. There are strict rules governing Medi-Cal eligibility, and making mistakes in your application or management of assets can lead to severe punishments, such as long delays in obtaining benefits or outright denial of benefits.

We recognize that it is not always possible to plan in advance for incapacity. A Medi-Cal crisis is a situation in which an individual must enter a nursing home immediately, or in the very near future, and has been informed that he or she has too many assets to qualify for Medi-Cal assistance. If you or a loved one is facing a Medi-Cal crisis, you need to understand that the information provided by family and friends, social workers or even nursing home intake staff is often outdated or otherwise inaccurate.